Although conventional trailers to be towed behind passenger vehicles equipped with rear mounted hitch balls adjacent the rear bumpers of the associated vehicles enjoy considerable popularity, the advantages of fifth wheel-type trailers for removable coupling to hitch structures carried in the bed of a pickup truck and positioned over the rear axle of the associated pickup truck are fast increasing the popularity ofpickup truck-fifth wheel trailer combinations.
While more even weight distribution, greater control and easier backing advantages may be readily realized through the utilization of a fifth wheel trailer in conjuction with a pickup truck having a hitch mounted in the bed thereof over the rear axle of the pickup truck, because of the different structure of the rear portion of the passenger vehicle the same advantages associated with fifth wheel trailers may not be realized by those persons wishing to tow a trailer behind a conventional passenger vehicle. Accordingly, a need exists for a hitch construction which may be utilized in conjunction with a passenger vehicle in order to enable that vehicle to tow a fifth wheel-type of trailer.
Examples of previously known forms of fifth wheel hitches including some of the general structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,628,106, 3,722,917, 3,790,189, 3,801,135, 3,807,763, 3,825,281, 3,881,750 and 4,063,749. However, these previously known forms of hitch constructions are either not adapted for use in conjunction with passenger vehicles or are not readily mountable in the trunk compartments of passenger vehicles in a manner not requiring more than minimal maintenance and enabling ready coupling with an associated fifth wheel trailer.